Dealing With a Hostile Work Environment
What is a hostile work environment?Here is a good definition from East Carolina University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Equity website: [a hostile work environment is…] one that both a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive and one that a particular person who is the object of the harassment perceives to be hostile or abusive.
Hostile work environment is determined by looking at all of the circumstances, including the frequency of the allegedly harassing conduct, its severity, whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance Whether you plan on leaving your employer or staying put, any type of severe hostility (conflict, opposition, or resistance) that interferes with your job performance should be handled in a professional manner.
Doing so will only help you in the future, so avoid bad-mouthing the offender or your employer.
You never know, how your paths will cross again.
“Keep your words sweet...
in case you have to eat them.
” Here are some tips for coping in a hostile workplace: Keep in mind why you are at the job.
Why are you working at that particular company? Whatever the reason, let the objective you want to achieve give you the motivation to survive each day.
Focus on your own responses.
As difficultas the situation may be, learn to control how you respond to it.
Try to cope internally.
Prayer can be effective in “getting yourself together” and keeping your composure.
Carefully choose who you associate with.
Learn what not to say and who not to trust in future.
Avoid discussing your private life while at work (with others and on private phone conversations).
This reduces your being a target for gossip.
Find another opportunity.
If the situation does not improve to your satisfaction, and you have exhausted all options, look out for yourself and leave.
Tips for Management & Supervisory Employees 1.
Identify the stressful relationship between the individual or group and the work setting.
Strategies might include changes in worker assignment to produce a better person-environment fit.
2.
Make modifications to the working conditions so that they are less stressful and more conducive to effective coping and job performance.
Example: changing organizational decision-making processes to include employees.
3.
Help individuals adapt by teaching them better coping strategies for conditions that are impossible or difficult to change.
Bringing in counseling services for employees, or encouraging employees to use the company’s Employee Assistance Programs.
Web Resources http://www.
workplacefairness.
org/harassment [http://www.
CareerCookie.
com] Print Resource The Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile Environment by: T.
D.
Jakes
Hostile work environment is determined by looking at all of the circumstances, including the frequency of the allegedly harassing conduct, its severity, whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance Whether you plan on leaving your employer or staying put, any type of severe hostility (conflict, opposition, or resistance) that interferes with your job performance should be handled in a professional manner.
Doing so will only help you in the future, so avoid bad-mouthing the offender or your employer.
You never know, how your paths will cross again.
“Keep your words sweet...
in case you have to eat them.
” Here are some tips for coping in a hostile workplace: Keep in mind why you are at the job.
Why are you working at that particular company? Whatever the reason, let the objective you want to achieve give you the motivation to survive each day.
Focus on your own responses.
As difficultas the situation may be, learn to control how you respond to it.
Try to cope internally.
Prayer can be effective in “getting yourself together” and keeping your composure.
Carefully choose who you associate with.
Learn what not to say and who not to trust in future.
Avoid discussing your private life while at work (with others and on private phone conversations).
This reduces your being a target for gossip.
Find another opportunity.
If the situation does not improve to your satisfaction, and you have exhausted all options, look out for yourself and leave.
Tips for Management & Supervisory Employees 1.
Identify the stressful relationship between the individual or group and the work setting.
Strategies might include changes in worker assignment to produce a better person-environment fit.
2.
Make modifications to the working conditions so that they are less stressful and more conducive to effective coping and job performance.
Example: changing organizational decision-making processes to include employees.
3.
Help individuals adapt by teaching them better coping strategies for conditions that are impossible or difficult to change.
Bringing in counseling services for employees, or encouraging employees to use the company’s Employee Assistance Programs.
Web Resources http://www.
workplacefairness.
org/harassment [http://www.
CareerCookie.
com] Print Resource The Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile Environment by: T.
D.
Jakes
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